The Resurrection: Of Course It Was the Women
An Easter message from Mary Magdalene
By Rev. Jennifer Butler
It was the women—Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of Jesus, and others—who were the first to discover that Jesus had risen. The men were still cowering in the upper room.
Even then, the women’s discovery was dismissed as idle tales. Yet another spiritual practice handed down from our spiritual forebears through scripture— do not let anyone silence your voice.
And returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.
But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (Luke 24:9-11)
An Encounter with Magdalene
I once had an encounter with Mary Magdalene. I chose to believe her.
Two years ago, I was in Oxford, England, meeting with a group of religious leaders to strategize around how to counter Christian nationalism. I was weary—from the world, from the work, from personal burdens. I went for a walk and wandered into a 12th-century church perched on a small triangle of land between two busy roads. Its name stopped me in my tracks:
St. Mary Magdalen.
Inside the entryway, a sign read:
“St. Mary Magdalen is known as the Apostle to the Apostles because she was chosen to witness and spread the news of Jesus’ resurrection. She is one of the very few followers of Jesus who stayed with him at his death and then went to his tomb early on Easter morning to anoint his body.”
I was in awe that this medieval church had honored her. Recent scholarship affirms what tradition tried to bury—that Mary Magdalene was central to the early church. She was not a harlot. She was not marginal. She was the first apostle.
I sat in the quiet sanctuary before an amber-hued statue carved by a Catholic Sister. Magdalene held a jar for anointing. Her face was calm and resolute. Her stance, unshakable.
She had come to stare death in the face while others hid. She didn’t abandon the mission when things got hard. She may have doubted. She surely feared. But she did not walk away.
Because of that, she was the first to witness resurrection.
Be Like Water
As I sat in silence, contemplating her courage, an image came to me: be like water.
Water doesn’t hesitate before a barrier. It doesn’t waste time fretting over a boulder in a stream. It simply flows—over, around, through. It doesn’t get distracted by the impossible. It keeps moving.
That image steadies me now, especially in a world so riddled with crisis. Later I learned that the same image had inspired the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement, whose motto—taken from Bruce Lee—was: “Be like water.” That leaderless movement was nearly impossible to suppress because of its fluidity. Protesters would appear, adapt, and move. Umbrellas shielded them from tear gas and concealed their identities.
It’s tempting to freeze in moments like the one we face in the U.S. right now—to stare at the boulder or hide in the upper room. But if I become like water, Magdalene tells me, I can keep flowing. I can do the next right thing. I can stay faithful to Jesus’ vision of human dignity and flourishing for all.
Resurrection in Real Time
At 1:00 AM this past Saturday, a moment of resurrection took my breath away.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants accused—without due process—of gang affiliation under a rarely invoked 18th-century wartime law.
The American Civil Liberties Union, racing against the clock, filed an emergency application for clients already loaded onto deportation buses. This was Good Friday, the day Christians remember Jesus’ crucifixion.
In an extraordinary move, the Court did not wait for a lower ruling. In the dark of night, it ordered:
“The government is directed not to remove any member of the putative class of detainees from the United States until further order of this court.”
Crucifixion averted.
Not just the return of life, but new life breaking in where we least expect it. It’s what happens when people—lawyers, pastors, families, neighbors—keep showing up. Keep fighting. Keep believing.
It takes all of us. It always has.
Bells Against Tyranny
That same weekend, over 100 churches rang their bells in defiance of tyranny and in honor of Paul Revere’s midnight ride. The effort, coordinated by the National Council of Churches, state church councils, and Repairers of the Breach, marked a call to moral courage and civic awakening.
Resurrection is underway.
Stay the Course
Hope, as many have rightly said, is not a feeling that things will be okay. It’s a commitment to make it so.
We can expect hard times ahead. Already, Trump has begun ramping up legal attacks on nonprofits, cutting off federal funding, threatening the removal of legal status, and discrediting dissent through smear campaigns. Given previous attacks on faith-based organizations, churches and ministries may be next.
This is not new. It’s part of the authoritarian playbook—from Hungary and Russia to Georgia and India. But our answer is also well-worn: solidarity. We must resist. Together.
So, may God give us the fierce faith of Mary Magdalene.
May you learn to flow like water—undaunted by the boulders—and may justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream. (Amos 5:24)
Lets talk:
Where do you see signs of resurrection in our political and civic life? What keeps you going?
Thank you, Jen! I love that you reconnected to Mary Magdalene while you were here in England. It was so good to spend time with you then.
Thank for this Easter word. It fills me with hope!! Yes Mary Magdalene was the first apostle. Her boldness has always inspired me and you, in your boldness, have given me the image of water and doing the next right thing.